Hi, my name is Joseff Gerzson and I'm a pilot in the Austro-Hungarian Air Force. I have chosen to serve the Empire because it is in great need of disciplined and courageous pilots. I'm looking forward to when all of Austria-Hungary will forget their nationalities and unite under one flag. Unfortunately, our great country has been cheated by terroristsfrom the Slavic nation Serbia. These people have always been a nuisance, especially the ones in Sarajevo. The Serbs are ungrateful people and will try to get whatever they want. The asassination I think as do my fellow pilots was planned by the Serbiangovernment. That is why the emperor has declared war on these people.
August 7th, 1914 (Reaction to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand)
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand gave me both the feelings of sadness and anger. It obviously angered me and my fellow pilots that Serbian terrorists would have the ordacity to kill an innocent man. In my opinion, the Archduke visited Sarajevo (risking his life) to show the Serbs that he showed interest in their nationality. From the way I see it, he was saying to Serbs in Sarajevo that he desired them to be a part of united peoples in his future empire. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was trying to unite our empire yet he was killed. This makes me sadto see that our empire is far from being united. It will take twenty or maybe even thirty years before peoples of this empire will decide to put away their differences and accept that they are Austro-Hungarian.
August 25th, 1914 (The Battle Plan)
After the declaration of war on Serbia, we pilots have been training hard to get our communication, landing, and formation skills right in preparation for the war. You won't believe what has happened in the past two weeks since August seventh. The good news is that our allies Germany and Italy will join us in the war against Serbia. The Germans posses the most powerful military in the world. Highly-trained infantry, powerful tanks,a modern navy, airplanes, and other technologies make Germany the powerful force in this war. Italy will also be a force to help us in the invasion of Serbia. Word has it that the old Ottoman Empire will join our side too. The bad news is that the powerful Slavic nation Russia will be on the side of the Serbs (like they had any business in this controversy anyways). France is joining Russia to fight the Germans for two lousy provinces and sooner or later (as part of their copycat alliance) Great Britain will join the war to aide the French against the Germans. This war is going to be very big. Since the Germans have a powerful force, they will take care of the French quickly by capturing Paris. After defeating France, they will move a big force from Paris to fight the slow-moving Russians to the east. This is called the Schliefflen Plan, and I have the confidence that it will work perfectly. While the Germans take care of business, the Italians and the Imperial Army will focus on invading Serbia. The Ottoman Turks will fight British ships and block of any key supply routes through the Mediterranean to aide the Russians. The Imperial Army will also send some troops to help fight the Russians. I have a feeling that our squadron will be sent to aide the Germans. I just hope this plan will work out.
The Empire's recruitment poster
November 18th, 1915 (War update)
Hey, sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been too busy fighting off Russians as I predicted. Our squadron was stationed at Krakow around December and I earned the promotion as squadron leader. It sounds pretty cool but requires a lot of responsibility. It's too bad I didn't get a shot at teaching some Serbs a lesson. Anyways, the war is going well in the east but not so well in the Western Front. The Schliefflen Plan worked well during the first week. Moving through Belgium was easy for the Germans but a stalemate developed because of the technology of both sides. I've heard that the machine gun was the biggest contributer to the stalemate. As troops from both sides cross "No Man's Land" (the desolate space between the two sides' trenches), machine guns are strategically placed to mow down anything in range, killing many soldiers on both sides. Sounds very tragic. In the east, the Germans are holding back the Russians. The Germans, although outnumbered have really shown the Russians that they are the superior force. The slow moving, under-supplied, hungry Russian soldiers are starting to desert the army to go back home. Czar Nicholas has become widely unpopular as his country is at brink of Revolution. As for the south, the Bulgarians have joined our cause into fighting Serbia while the Ottomans attack British ships. I hear that the greedy Italians are threatening to join on the Entente's side if we don't give them some land on our western border which is really frustrating. I hope they will settle down soon. Most of the Imperial Army are fighting Serbs who will quickly become overwhelmed when the Germans get down here.
April 6th, 1917 (United States enters the war)
Hey sorry again for the lack of blogging. I have been fighting too much. I have just received word that the powerful United States has entered the war. Everything just fell apart this last year. Yes Russia left the war, but now our German friends will have to fight of another big army from across the Atlantic giving them even more discouragement to continue the war. I hate to say that my country is falling apart. The Empire just can't manage the war anymore and soon, the country will split up into many independent states. My squadron has been told about an hour ago to go home because the Air Force just can't afford to pay us anymore. The Italians have turned against us while the Turks' empire fall apart. I don't know what to think. I guess I'm left to take care of my wife and kids and watch what happens next. I just hope that this war ends soon so that less people will die.
Joseff Gerzson, Austro-Hungarian Air Force
August 4th, 1914 (Why we joined the war)
Hi, my name is Joseff Gerzson and I'm a pilot in the Austro-Hungarian Air Force. I have chosen to serve the Empire because it is in great need of disciplined and courageous pilots. I'm looking forward to when all of Austria-Hungary will forget their nationalities and unite under one flag. Unfortunately, our great country has been cheated by terrorists from the Slavic nation Serbia. These people have always been a nuisance, especially the ones in Sarajevo. The Serbs are ungrateful people and will try to get whatever they want. The asassination I think as do my fellow pilots was planned by the Serbian government. That is why the emperor has declared war on these people.August 7th, 1914 (Reaction to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand)
The assassination of Franz Ferdinand gave me both the feelings of sadness and anger. It obviously angered me and my fellow pilots that Serbian terrorists would have the ordacity to kill an innocent man. In my opinion, the Archduke visited Sarajevo (risking his life) to show the Serbs that he showed interest in their nationality. From the way I see it, he was saying to Serbs in Sarajevo that he desired them to be a part of united peoples in his future empire. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was trying to unite our empire yet he was killed. This makes me sad to see that our empire is far from being united. It will take twenty or maybe even thirty years before peoples of this empire will decide to put away their differences and accept that they are Austro-Hungarian.August 25th, 1914 (The Battle Plan)
After the declaration of war on Serbia, we pilots have been training hard to get our communication, landing, and formation skills right in preparation for the war. You won't believe what has happened in the past two weeks since August seventh. The good news is that our allies Germany and Italy will join us in the war against Serbia. The Germans posses the most powerful military in the world. Highly-trained infantry, powerful tanks, a modern navy, airplanes, and other technologies make Germany the powerful force in this war. Italy will also be a force to help us in the invasion of Serbia. Word has it that the old Ottoman Empire will join our side too. The bad news is that the powerful Slavic nation Russia will be on the side of the Serbs (like they had any business in this controversy anyways). France is joining Russia to fight the Germans for two lousy provinces and sooner or later (as part of their copycat alliance) Great Britain will join the war to aide the French against the Germans. This war is going to be very big. Since the Germans have a powerful force, they will take care of the French quickly by capturing Paris. After defeating France, they will move a big force from Paris to fight the slow-moving Russians to the east. This is called the Schliefflen Plan, and I have the confidence that it will work perfectly. While the Germans take care of business, the Italians and the Imperial Army will focus on invading Serbia. The Ottoman Turks will fight British ships and block of any key supply routes through the Mediterranean to aide the Russians. The Imperial Army will also send some troops to help fight the Russians. I have a feeling that our squadron will be sent to aide the Germans. I just hope this plan will work out.November 18th, 1915 (War update)
Hey, sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I've been too busy fighting off Russians as I predicted. Our squadron was stationed at Krakow around December and I earned the promotion as squadron leader. It sounds pretty cool but requires a lot of responsibility. It's too bad I didn't get a shot at teaching some Serbs a lesson. Anyways, the war is going well in the east but not so well in the Western Front. The Schliefflen Plan worked well during the first week. Moving through Belgium was easy for the Germans but a stalemate developed because of the technology of both sides. I've heard that the machine gun was the biggest contributer to the stalemate. As troops from both sides cross "No Man's Land" (the desolate space between the two sides' trenches), machine guns are strategically placed to mow down anything in range, killing many soldiers on both sides. Sounds very tragic. In the east, the Germans are holding back the Russians. The Germans, although outnumbered have really shown the Russians that they are the superior force. The slow moving, under-supplied, hungry Russian soldiers are starting to desert the army to go back home. Czar Nicholas has become widely unpopular as his country is at brink of Revolution. As for the south, the Bulgarians have joined our cause into fighting Serbia while the Ottomans attack British ships. I hear that the greedy Italians are threatening to join on the Entente's side if we don't give them some land on our western border which is really frustrating. I hope they will settle down soon. Most of the Imperial Army are fighting Serbs who will quickly become overwhelmed when the Germans get down here.April 6th, 1917 (United States enters the war)
Hey sorry again for the lack of blogging. I have been fighting too much. I have just received word that the powerful United States has entered the war. Everything just fell apart this last year. Yes Russia left the war, but now our German friends will have to fight of another big army from across the Atlantic giving them even more discouragement to continue the war. I hate to say that my country is falling apart. The Empire just can't manage the war anymore and soon, the country will split up into many independent states. My squadron has been told about an hour ago to go home because the Air Force just can't afford to pay us anymore. The Italians have turned against us while the Turks' empire fall apart. I don't know what to think. I guess I'm left to take care of my wife and kids and watch what happens next. I just hope that this war ends soon so that less people will die.Pictures
This is my planeThis is my lovely wife
These are my kids, Armin and Monika
This is the family puppy
This is a picture of my squadron just before the war
This is a map of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
This is a photo of Emperor Franz Josef